Jon Favreau is NOT Directing THE AVENGERS and Edward Norton is NOT in IRON MAN 2

MTV has confirmed what many of us already knew: Jon Favreau is not going to direct “The Avengers” movie. While fans were holding out hope that somehow Jon would find the time to take on the project, with his involvement in “Cowboys and Aliens” after he finishes “Iron Man 2″, he’ll only be executive producing “The Avengers”. The other bit of news is Jon saying Edward Norton will not be making an appearance in “Iron Man 2″. While many have tried to keep that rumor going, I’m glad we can finally kill it off. More on the story after the jump:

On “The Avengers” movie, Jon said:

“They’ll have to [find a different director], because I’m not going to be available. It’s something I’m being the executive producer on, so I’ll definitely have input and a say. It’s going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with ‘Avengers’ you’re going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor. How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it’s going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we’ve created.”

Look, I would have loved to have seen Favreau’s take on “The Avengers” as he’s proven he can make a great superhero movie. Also, everything I’ve seen on “Iron Man 2″ tells me it’s going to be even better. But I can understand his wanting to branch out and make “Cowboys and Aliens”. After all, the script is written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof and he’s got Robert Downey Jr. as the lead. Also, it sounds like a very cool, original concept. If you haven’t heard, “Cowboys and Aliens” is based on a comic book and the premise is aliens land on Earth in the mid 1800’s. Their plan is to enslave humanity, but the cowboys and Native Americans have other plans. While I haven’t read the comic, I have heard good things.

But getting back to “The Avengers”. With the the huge box office receipts for most super hero movies and the fact that A-list actors want to be in them, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a director we’d never expect getting in the drivers seat. Also, with the global recession, not as many movies are getting made, so many directors are looking for projects.

With a summer 2012 release date for “The Avengers”, I’d imagine we’re going to start hearing names very soon regarding who will take the helm. More as we get it.